Let me give you examples of articles before 1991:
Pre-1991 articles
What about Watchtower and Awake! articles written before and after the Society was a DPI NGO? Has there been any articles which, if had been published during the 1991 to 2001 status, would now be declared as “UN propaganda” by Internet conspiracy theorists? Certainly!
One article which would have definitely been considered “propaganda” printed as “part of the deal” with the UN, is in the February 22nd 1979 Awake!. When examining this article are we to assume that that the Watchtower Society had a 12-year plot to become a DPI NGO with the UN and thus began writing “UN propaganda”?
Here are a few quotes from that article. While reading it, just imagine what kind of accusations a conspiracy theorist would make.
“Commendable Goals
The
goals of the United Nations organization are commendable. “The purposes of the United Nations are,” so reads its charter, “to maintain international peace and security.”
Article 55 of the charter says: “With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, the United Nations shall promote: a) higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development; b) solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems; and international cultural and educational cooperation; and c) universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”
Fine goals, but to what extent have they been reached? To what extent can they be reached? An article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in 1965 called attention to certain facts that still apply today 14 years later: “A balance of twenty years of UN history and
a long list of conciliation and mediation measures shows that the United Nations have been successful in cases where the ‘super powers’ have not been directly involved.”
The article called attention to
the fine work done by organs of the United Nations in other fields, such as by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and by
a host of others.
There are U.N. agencies, for example, dealing with the peaceful uses of outer space, of atomic energy and of the seabed. Questions of the environment, industrial development and economic development also come up for consideration. There is a United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control.
Much has been done in the way of disaster relief. One of the most remarkable achievements was caring for the needs of millions of Bangladeshi refugees after the war with Pakistan.A
Committee on Crime Prevention and Control has also done fine work. The first major intergovernmental conference ever devoted solely to women was sponsored by this organization in Mexico City in 1975.”
Here is another example, a December 8th 1974 Awake! article entitled What the Poor Nations Are Saying:
“In the spring of 1974,
the “underdeveloped” countries sponsored a special session of the United Nations General Assembly. This three-week session was devoted to their problems, especially the use of their raw materials by the richer countries.”
“
United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim answers:
“The single most devastating indictment of our current world civilization is the continued existence of stark, pervasive poverty among two-thirds of the world population.”
“It permeates every phase of life in developing countries: in the malnutrition of children, in the outbreaks of diseases, in widespread unemployment, in low literacy rates, in overcrowded cities.”
Ah, now it is becoming clearer. The Watchtower Society had a 17-year plot to disseminate information for the UN in order to become a DPI NGO! That is almost comical. Needless to say there are others, and of course all the articles close with, as the accusers will say, the ‘token’ references to God’s Kingdom and that it will accomplish what man-made governments have failed to accomplish.
Post-2001 articles
Do the Watchtower Society publications show a change since withdrawing membership as a DPI NGO? Would the articles written continue to be viewed as ‘UN propaganda’ if the Society was still a DPI NGO today? Lets examine some of these articles in the Awake! magazine since 2001.
The March 22nd 2005 Awake! cover-article Mountains Vital for Life On Earth is one recent example. Here is a quote from it:
“The
United Nations Environmental Programme sponsored the International Year of Mountains 2002. To emphasize mankind’s dependence on the mountains, organizers coined the phrase “We Are All Mountain People.”
They aimed to increase awareness of the problems facing the world’s mountains and seek solutions to protect them. This concern is a valid one...”
Other references are made to what the UN has done and, as always, the article closes with what God’s Kingdom will accomplish. Can you not just here the accusations, “Most people did not even know that 2002 was the International Year of mountains. But here again the Watchtower has seen to it that its readership is made aware of even obscure International Years.” Is this not precisely what would be said?
Another example is January 8th 2005 Awake! article Can Planet Earth Be Saved? Here is a quote from it:
“True,
world leaders have made commendable efforts to curb pollution, deforestation, and other environmental problems.
Starting with the UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972, and followed by other conferences at regular intervals,
up to 163 nations have met to endorse action plans.”
Imagine if this had been written in the 1990’s, we would no doubt hear the same tired old accusations of conspiracy and deception from accusers, “It's more one-world propaganda for the UN! They are praising the 1972 conference and the so-called commendable efforts of the UN!”
Also consider the February 22nd 2003 Awake! article Malnutrition “The Silent Emergency”. As you can just imagine from the title, there are many references made to the UN. Here is one that would definitely be given as “proof” if written during the time the Society had DPI NGO status:
“...in 1996 the World Food Summit of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) set the goal of reducing the number of the world’s undernourished by half—some 400 million people—by the year 2015.
Commendably, some progress has been made.”
Listen! Can you here the accusatory statements about the blatant way the Watchtower promotes the goals of the UN and informs us of the UN’s proposed solutions as part of their global agenda?
Let's take one final example, although we could go on and on. Consider the February 22nd 2005 Awake! article The Role of Mothers as Educators. Here the Writing Department has the gall to put a picture of the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and quote what he said about women in the center of page 5! Can't you just hear the accusations? “What purpose could this possibly serve but to promote the UN and their agenda?”
Yet the fact is that all of these articles were written after 2001 when the Watchtower Society withdrew its DPI NGO status. Perhaps someone needs to tell them that they can stop their “blatant propagandizing for the UN” since they no longer need to disseminate such information as part of the “back room deal”. That is certainly a ridiculous statement, but it well demonstrates how absurd the previous accusations are about the Watchtower Society's deliberately publishing “UN propaganda” and the Awake! allegedly becoming a “UN publication” to fulfill the UN's requirements.
Each article featuring the UN has always closed with how God’s Kingdom, not the UN, will solve all the problems of mankind. Besides, articles of these exact same sentiments were published both before and after the DPI NGO years anyway.
In conclusion, have we as Jehovah's Witnesses disseminated information about the UN? Of course we have. We did this long before we were a DPI NGO — even before the UN was formed — and we continue to do so to this day. Did we give our publications to the UN as proof of our concurrence with DPI requirements? Yes, and why not? Such a provision was a sensible precaution of behalf of the UN's DPI to ensure their facilities were not being misused by undesirable organizations who “contribute to the propagation of nazi ideology and racial and/or religious discrimination”. These are the words of the UN's own resolution on the matter, not ours.
Furthermore, all the articles point to God's Kingdom! Does writing honest articles about the UN, showing how God's Kingdom will succeed where the UN has failed, make us a political partner with the UN? Does it mean we are guilty of printing “propaganda” to promote their “global agenda”? We believe the reasonable answer is firm 'no' and that the conspiracy theorists are reading into the evidence what they wish to see.